Shaw, now much whiter than before. Photo by wageslaves

Three D.C. zip codes encompassing Shaw, Bloomingdale, Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Logan Circle, and parts of downtown D.C. are among those across the country that have seen the highest jump in white residents over the last decade, according to research by a scholar at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (h/t Mike DeBonis).

D.C. zip code 20001 (Shaw/Bloomingdale/LeDroit Park/Truxton Circle/Pleasant Plains) saw a 27.2 increase in non-Hispanic white residents from 2000 to 2010, putting it tenth nationwide. It was followed by 20010 (Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Park View) with a 24.7 increase for 14th place nationwide and 20005 (Logan Circle/Downtown) with a 21.1 percent jump for 19th place.

Leading the nation was Columbia, South Carolina’s 29202 with 47.1 percent increase, followed by Chattanooga’s 37308 (38.7 percent) and Chicago’s 60604 (37.7 percent). Brooklyn had four spots on the list, starting with 11205 at sixth place with a 29.6 percent increase.

So what motivated the research, done by Michael J. Petrilli? He explains:

For the past several years I’ve been obsessed with the issue of gentrification. Mostly that’s because of a book I’ve been writing about diverse public schools. What’s clear is that gentrification—for all of its downsides—is providing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to integrate some of our schools—at least if we don’t let it go to waste.

So I was curious: Which communities in the U.S. are witnessing the greatest amount of gentrification? I started poking around Census Bureau data (with the assistance of some colleagues and the Census Bureau’s excellent help line) and here’s what I found. I looked at zip codes (which isn’t perfect, because boundaries can change) and places with a large increase in the white share of the population (which isn’t perfect, because you’d really want to look at changes in income levels, but those data aren’t available yet for 2010).

From 2000 to 2010 the percentage of non-Hispanic white residents in D.C. jumped from 30 to 38, while the percentage of black residents dropped from 60 to 50 percent.